PICTURE DAY-- Three Machines

Picture day! Here we go:

Front of the store. Pumpkin time is slowly getting started-- last year we had a sea of 'em laid out. It got to the point that people had trouble getting into the store-- just too many pumpkins. We'll pick once a week up until October, when things ramp up and we pull 'em all. On the table you can see the boss's daughter's handiwork. She carved a pumpkin and then spray painted it silver. I feel bad, but that monstrosity is horrendous

The view around the side of the store. I remember planting those sunflowers' seeds with NYU back in June. As you can see, today was a fine day to be out and about.

The tomato fields. Things have died down recently. Just the act of picking tramples down the plant-- the heavy rains only sped up the decay. Some varieties are still bearing fruit, but no new blooms. Oh well, these guys have had a long run-- they're the same plants I seeded with the boss in February. The tractor rows through the field are littered with rotten tomatoes-- removing the baddies from the plant interior lowers the risks of spreading further molds/fungus/rot/flies. On a hot day this whole place reeks with a strong sugar/tomato/soiled diaper scent.
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The trellised cherry tomatoes are still going along nicely, except the weeds have grown into a dense jungle. The boss rented the machine on the right for the day-- and sent Newport out to wage war against all weeds.

The lower fields and the late-late season corn. Last time I posted pictures these guys were hardly more than a few inches tall. Now they're inches close to harvest. Late season corn varieties tend to grow a little shorter than most varieties-- I guess the short/compact build shores them up against the cooler weather in Fall.

Lower fields: Blueberries on the left, the day neutral strawberries in the middle and then that corn. Blueberries are long since dried up, but surprisingly enough the strawberries are still producing. We spent a lot of today trying to excavate these 3 rows from the weeds-- they've been overgrown during our month long tomato/corn blitz. It's been a long time since we last picked, but we could see a few quarts by the end of the week.

Middle of the Lower fields: The block of weeds on the left used to be the string beans. The chard and kale are still surviving, although the weed competition hasn't done them any favors. Beneath the 6ft weeds on the far right is a bed of beets we never bothered clearing. Wow, we've really been slacking off on our weeding. The boss plans on having the foreman mow down the weeds/beet greens so we can scoop up the roots. We'll see how that goes.

The far side of the Lower fields: there's the wagon of pipes the foreman and I stacked up the other day. Off towards the woods edge is the pumpkin patch.

The pumpkin patch! You can see the two major blocks of the field (left and right) separated by a tractor road. All of the pumpkins planted here are ornamental varieties-- mostly for carving and looking big/good. It's a big field this year, so hopefully people are itching for their Halloween fix.

Up close and personal with three pumpkins on the vine. As you can see, these ones aren't ready yet. The top, sun exposed, side turns orange first-- sometimes you can't gauge the ripeness without lifting the fella up for a peak at the bottom. The green veins will turn in a week or some, then three more pumpkins for the pile. The plant itself is formed like a squash plant (barbed stalks, wide raised leaves), but vines out like the cucumber plants.

A picturesque view of our pipe/trailer junkyard from the road up to the forest field.

The dead rows. Summer squash, Zucchini, Patty pan and Kousa on the left-- Cucumbers and pickling cukes on the right. Bah managed to fill 2 buckets worth of cucumbers last week, but that's been it. Their season has passed. After a couple more weeks (always holding out for a few straggling veggies) we'll mow down the plants and pull up the plastic wrap-- turning back to empty field.

The peppers are still going strong. These are the bell peppers-- red is fully mature, green is young. We pick both depending on the week-- reds are usually a little more expensive due to the increased risk/loss due to extra weeks on the plant.

The bull nosed peppers, or the Italian red pepper. They taste sweet-- great for salads, roasting, pickling, you name it. The boss's favorite.

Buried beneath more weeds are the remainders of the cantaloupe rows. It's getting empty out there, but we might squeeze out another week or two's worth of melon. We grew 2 types of cantaloupe this year-- these are the enormous monster sized variety. The smaller variety is planted down by the store. I prefer the small stuff-- it ripens a little slower, the big guys can turn to liquid in a day.

Far side of the forest field. Up close are the rows of fall-string beans. The blooms are out and the beans are forming-- looking good. Looks like Gizzie might still get the chance to suffer through a full day of squatting over a bean bucket. In the background you can see the weak basil fighting for survival-- then far down, are the trellis posts for the fall golden-cherry tomatoes.

Back to farm central. Here are the rows of Fall summer squash, zucchini and cucumbers-- right alongside the store and greenhouse. It's so close we can easily lug the full buckets right into the cooler. That's part of the harrow tractor attachment in the foreground there.

All cleaned and packed up, no more seedlings this year. Now the greenhouse has turned into the tractor garage-- we drive it in and then deal with all the upkeep/repair work. Morning watering duty is a distant memory these days.

Up to the hilltop! The giant novelty pumpkins are on their way. Last year we had two that reached 400lbs-- all the rain might push into uncharted pumpkin territory this year. In back: one of the horses is out going about her business.

The horses were feeling curious today. I was talking to a customer today about the horses and realized-- I have no idea what any of their names are. Newport decided Horse A and Horse B would do. I'm guessing Horse A is the one with the fancy haircut.

Checked the stone bridge on the way-- water is still high, but back within its banks. Look at the flood pictures from last week-- I would have been swept off in the rapids if I'd tried this picture then. Aside: the boss swears the bridge is safe, but rolling over it with several tons of tractor has made me a bit skeptical.

Blackberries, raspberries and the leaves are just starting to turn-- Fall's here.

Up top things are looking fine. The solid block of green on the left are the late season tomatoes-- not quite as many as the first round, but they'll do. The darker green rows in the center are the broccoli. The foreman and I ran up and filled 6 big boxes before the boss/Gizzie left for market. On the right (hidden with the light green sea) are a few beds of brussel sprouts and cabbage. The cabbage is well on its way, the sprouts are just hitting their growth spurt.

The kingdom of the hilltop corn. Old Rudolpho and family are working their way through these fields day by day. We should have corn well into October if the weather holds.

Between blocks of corn is the sugar-pumpkin patch. These are a smaller variety, but they taste a lot better than their ornamental cousins. We use most of these ourselves, baking up pumpkin pies in the kitchen. Its a big field this year, so I'm guessing the boss wants to sell a lot more to bakers and families. Can't wait to taste those pies.

Buttercup squash (hidden between corn fields). These little guys are great, the inside is a deep thick orange color and a lot sweeter than most squashes. The tough skin turns most people off to these guys-- I remember tearing my hands to shreds piling these guys up last year. They fatten up and out a bit more, so these aren't quite ripe yet.

The Butternut squash. We have a lot of butternut this year, 6 times more than last year. I didn't realize just how much we'd planted--whew harvest time is going to be crazy. 26 rows-- I remember weeding here for a week straight with the boys in late July.

Up close on the butternut. Not ripe yet, still too pale. They're big, just not ready. I said it earlier but: these squash taste best if they're left to ripen (as long as possible) on the vine. Fortunately, we wont have long to wait. The boss thinks we might begin hauling these guys off the hill next week.

The Potato corner. The bare patches are the rows we've pulled already-- the weeds cover over the potatoes we've yet to touch. So far we've only gotten reds and whites, but there are tons left and many different varieties. Fingerlings, yukons and many more are just waiting beneath the surface. The boss plans on having everything out of the ground in the first few weeks of October (in order to bet the frost)-- we'd better get started soon.

Potatoes in the foreground, the dead corn in the middle and the feed corn way off by the woods edge.

Corn, corn and more corn.

The view form the peach orchard.


That's all the photos for today. The day itself was pretty slow going. Once the boss and Gizzie left for market the dog work began. The foreman hitched up his mower attachment and cut down rows of weeds. Newport fired up the rented self-propelled mower and cleared out between the crop rows. I had the trimmer and ran around fine tuning everything. It took all day for me to clear around the strawberries, trellised tomatoes and the fields around the store. Newport and I commiserated beneath the back awning at the end of the day-- we'd killed quite a few tomato plants while trying to cut back the weed walls. Oh well.

It was a good hard day.


That's it for now, take it easy.